Jacques Goes to Wal-Mart and Struggles With the Self-Checkout
by Rotten Tchea Fruit
Summary: Garin decides to hand out some alternative Halloween treats. Jacques does not approve of them, so he goes to Wal-Mart to buy "real" treats. Rated T because of brief mention of spanking.
1. Chapter 1

Garin stood in the kitchen of the Black Pawkeet preparing festive Halloween treats. On the counter stood a straight line of six jars of Big John's pickled eggs. Each jar, according to the nutrition label, contained about 44 eggs. He probably wouldn't need more than two jars, but some years the West Krawk Island Marina is thronged with trick-or-treaters, and he wanted to be prepared. And rightfully so, for this was one of those years.

For many years the West Krawk Island functioned as a neighbourhood for people who lived in houseboats, sailboats, ships, etc. Trick-or-treating there became a thing in 1984, when about 20% of the households were family homes.

The West Krawk Island Marina was now the Black Pawkeet's docking place when Garin and his crew needed to go on land for supplies and other things. They couldn't dock at the Scurvy Island Marina anymore because they had a problem with Garin and his crew doing laundry in the showers and hanging it up outside. West Krawk was run by a cool lesbian couple who had common sense. Some people live in their boats. What are they supposed to do with their laundry? The marina was not a place of residence for Garin, but he was excited to participate.

Jacques came into the kitchen and saw a pile of things wrapped in aluminum foil. Garin was wrapping pickled eggs in aluminum foil.

"Why are you wrapping pickled eggs in aluminum foil?" he asked.

"For the children." Garin replied.

"No! Have you not embarrassed me enough? You are not handing out pickled eggs as halloween candy!"

"I thought you would like this better," Garin said with disappointment in his voice, "You're always trying to get me to eat healthier. I thought you might like it if I gave the trick-or-treaters something healthy."

"Pickled eggs are not healthy," Jacques said.

"It's not like we have any other choice." Garin said, hesitantly, "I let the crew eat the candy you bought."

"I have a secret stash of toffees for when you stress me out." Jacques said. "I'm going to buy more candy, and those should be enough before I get back."

There was a Wal-Mart nearby. Jacques decided to get the candy from there for he had never been to Wal-Mart before.


	2. Chapter 2

Jacques had heard of Wal-Mart before, but he had never been to one. A store where you can by food, office supplies, video games, towels, furniture, children, and clothes all in one transaction! It sounds too good to be true!

Like many Neopians, he had brought a large toy wagon with him to carry the stuff home because there are no cars in Neopia. He parked it in the wagon parking lot and went inside. He was greeted by a man who had carts ready for the customers as to use as they entered the store. When Jacques took a cart, the man replaced it with another cart from the garage-like space where there were many more carts lined up. Such luxury!

Jacques looked for the candy aisle and somehow ended up in the As Seen on TV section. The Black Pawkeet needed some repairs, so he picked up a can of Flex Seal™. He had to leave before he picked up any more As Seen on TV products. There were so many products that looked great, but he had to do some internet research first to see if they worked or not.

Jacques continued his search for the candy. his journey took him near the paint section. The paint stirring sticks were in a bucket with a sign that read "Free." He took one. He planned to use it to spank Garin later that night, with his consent, of course.

Jacques found his way to the candy and other snacks. He put seven bags of Reese's™ pumpkins in the cart. He also got a few party sized bags of chips/crisps. Next to the chips/crisps, there were jars of Big John's products, including pickled sausages, pickled pigs' feet, and of course, pickled eggs. Jacques immediately headed for the checkout line when he saw that, because it reminded him of Garin and his stupid pickled eggs. He had wasted so much time in Wal-Mart. Garin might have run out of toffees by now, and he would be handing out pickled eggs.

And Jacques was right about the eggs, but Garin had not run out of toffees. He hadn't even touched them.

Garin was sitting on the dock handing out the pickled eggs. The treats had to be handed out on the docks for the children's safety. The couple who owned the marina did not want children coming aboard the ships and boats for the same reason that children should never enter a stranger's house while trick-or-treating.

"Talak!" Garin called, "I'm running low on eggs. Wrap some more and bring them out here." There were eleven pickled eggs left in the bowl.


	3. Chapter 3

Jacques walked quickly to the checkout area. The lines for the traditional checkout counters were very long, and everybody in them had carts filled to the brim. However, there was an odd looking set of checkout stations that did not have long lines. One of them was not even occupied. Were these the self-checkouts that he had heard of?

Jacques did not have social anxiety. He had read the symptoms, and he decided that he did not have enough of them to qualify for that disorder. But he hated it when strangers tried to socialise with him, especially when they tried to make him laugh or told him to smile. This was a problem that he ran into most often when he was paying at a store, so the self-checkout was the best option for him. Jacques walked up to the unoccupied self-checkout and pressed the start button.

"Welcome," the feminine robotic voice said, "Please scan your first item."

Jacques scanned his first item. It was a bag of Doritos because he wanted the receipt to be in alphabetical order.

"Please place item in the bagging area." The machine said. The item _was_ in the bagging area. Jacques looked at the machine's touchscreen. It would not let him continue unless it detected the Doritos or if Jacques pressed the button that read, "I don't want to bag this item."

Jacques waited a few seconds and then pressed the button.

"Unexpected item in bagging area. Remove this item before continuing."

Jacques took the item out of the bagging area. He then scanned the Flex Seal™ and placed it in the bagging area.

"Unexpected item in bagging area."

Jacques did not press the "I don't want to bag this item" button, but the self-checkout allowed him to continue after a second. He decided not to waste anymore time trying to alphabetise the list. He needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. Garin might be handing out pickled eggs by now. Every second counts.


End file.
